Getting ready

• Evasolo's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Sydney

  Sydney, Australia
Tuesday, June 10, 2008

As the oil prices climb towards $150 a barrel and the days of discount air fares look numbered because of it, I am pleased I have already booked my Ryan Air cheap airfares to Norway and Austria for my three-months plus northern hemisphere summer odyssey.

Now, all I have to do is pack and get ready for take off on New Zealand flight 718 in the morning. But that is easier said than done. Not only am I am packing my own bags, but I also need to pack up my apartment, which I have left with a real estate agent to let while I'm away. In addition, there is my cat, Hannibal, who needs his things packed. He's going away to stay with my niece and will be bringing his scratching post, his Burberry bag/sleeping baset, his toys, three months' supply of the Hill's Science Diet Light dry catfood (he wants nothing else) and his dried liver treats.

Bills have to be paid before I go, the gym membership at Changes has to cancelled in person I am told and can not be done over the phone - which is annoying - and what seems to be a million other things. I am on my 5th to do list and every time I write a new list, they seem to get longer.

Hopefully, by the end of the day I'll have all the items ticket off. The worst-case scenario is that I have to write a final list for my son to take care of.

I am travelling fairly light for a three months away. When they brought in the rule that passengers could only go through security carrying one piece of cabin luggage, including your handbag, I devised my disappearing tote trick. I arrive at the airport with a tote over my shoulder, one piece of check-in luggage and another roll-along to bring on the plane.

Before I get to the security check - I remove my laptop from my roll-along and the clear plastic pouch with my bottles and gels. In their place I pack away my tote and handbag. At the other side of the security gates, no-one bothers about how many pieces of luggage passengers are carrying, and my laptop goes in my tote and the clear pouch back in the front pocket of my roll-along. if I buy duty free - I can easily be carrying three bags with me when I board the plane.

It is going to be a long day and a marathon flight. First I fly to Auckland, where I have to wait three hours to change to the long haul flight NZ39. In other words, I fly backwards to fly forwards. By the time I take off from Auckland, six hours will already have been passed, which is more time than it takes to across the Atlantic.

After 11 hours the plane will land in Hong Kong for refuelling followed by another two hours' wait until we embark for our final 13-hour leg. That is 30 hours or a day and a half of travelling all together. God give me strength, valerian forte tablets that work, a couple of good books and plenty of on-board movies.

Personally, I do not see much point in breaking up the journey - I prefer having one long haul flight rather than two. The trick is to get as much sleep as possible on the Hong Kong to London leg even though it is a daytime flight. Here is where the valerian forte comes in and an eye mask. By the time of arrival in London at 2:35pm on Friday the 13th I should be fresh as a daisy - or so the theory goes. Drinking plenty of water and having a change of clothes also help.